....and here we go!

the usual suspects are checking in.

Standing by for sales job.

 

It's exactly what you said. You even repeat it below, "the way MOST pilots do CDO's IS unsafe. That flight in the early morning is being operated the vast majority of the time by a sleep deprived (fatigued) crew."

Typical DPA strategy of declaring everyone with whom you disagree as a DALPA political strategist. You and I have both been debating the points. I took issue with what you said, and you don't like being called out.

So you keep saying. You've still not explained why these should be banned and not all-nighters where the crew is on duty for the same period of time without a power nap in a bid, other than to say that all-nighters are part of some airlines' marketing plan. So what? It's either safe or it's not, right?

There you go again, disparaging me and my fellow Delta pilots. BTW, when is the last time that you flew a leg to or from South America. Talk about sleep deprived during the last part of the leg!! I'd much prefer the hotel to the lie-flat seat.

You'll forgive me for not resorting to the same histrionics as you have for misquoting me. I specifically said that the FARs' primary raison d'etre is to prevent unsafe scheduling by air carriers. As such, they delineate the rest and sleep opportunities that each carrier must provide its pilots.

The FAA specifically declined to regulate what a pilot does during his duty-free periods, other than to say that he is required to report rested and fit for duty. That applies equally to commuters, local pilots with colicky babies, and pilots who are scheduled for all-nighters (with or without a sleep opportunity in a suitable accommodation).

It is our job to show up fit for duty under all circumstances. You can rely on me to do my job, and I assume that I can rely on you.

 

It's a portion of his quote you agreed 100% with.

 

But none of them had to do the MD88 right seat stuff after a short nap.

 

I'll take this one, because I happen to agree with DAL88. The big difference is I would hope (and assume) that the JFK-SVO flight crew knew they were only going to get a 2 hour nap enroute, and thus, they took a nap prior to report for duty. At least I certainly hope they did, and that is what I always did the 5 years I flew international.

But a CDO is completely different. "It's only a X:XX flight on the return leg, and I'll get Y:YY sleep. How tough can it be? I can handle it; no need to take a nap before reporting for duty."

At least, that is my honest guess of what most guys who actually bid CDO's will do. I could be wrong.

 

Not that I'm aware of. There is the threat (or reality) of a recall if your rep does not support memrat, but that would not affect this particular vote.

 

This is getting at the meat if the issue too... What these CDOs show, and the reason for them is that it is marketing that runs this company, and that operations has to do yoga to accommodate them. If they want an 88 to go into and out of a small market last and first, operations should press marketing hard enough to make sure they get a little consideration in that area. I would love to see some empirical data that would show we get book aways if the last flight into GSO leaves at 21:30 rather than 23:30. etc etc etc....

 

I get it now. And I've edited my post.

 

You are not wrong.

 

Not sure what you mean here. I am not familiar with NWA's staffing formula, but ours has only been changed to require more pilots since the merger. The point is that if this TA creates more credit time via ADG, CDO guarantee, etc., then more pilots will be required. If other aspects of the TA overcome any such gains to reduce total block and credit hours, then fewer pilots will be required.

I see the Company doing nothing different staffing-wise than they've done ever since I've been here.

True -- about 125, from what I recall from the roadshows, but an increased total pilot cost (for the same number of pilots) of $400M per year.

Sorry, but I don't see anyone doing that. I only see hard debate on a number of thorny issues, with good points being made on both sides. Why not simply keep that up, rather than looking for political boogymen in every post?